'Simpsons' creator Matt Groening's mom's obituary reveals inspiration behind America's favorite TV family

Some of the best stories are inspired by real-life experiences, and several filmmakers as well as authors have revealed the incidents that influenced their work. Matt Groening, the creator behind the iconic show "The Simpsons" often credited for predicting real-life events, also used people in his life as inspiration for the show’s characters. But people did not notice this until his mother, Margaret Groening passed away in 2013, and her obituary was published by Oregon Live.

A snapshot of this obituary was posted on X by Eric Alper (@thatericalper,) and it begins by mentioning that Matt’s mother was born on March 23, 1919, in Minnesota with the name “Margaret Wiggum,” and this instantly reminded fans about the character Chief Clancy Wiggum. Margaret's parents, Matt and Ingeborg Wiggum, met on the boat coming to America from Norway. They settled in Everett, Washington, where the paper mill "smelled like money."

After graduating from college, Margaret married her classmate, Homer Groening, whom she chose because he “made her laugh the most.” Homer is another name that "The Simpsons" fans are acquainted with. Apart from Homer and Marge, Matt also drew inspiration for the names Lisa and Maggie from his two sisters. Speaking to The Smithsonian, Matt confessed that initially, he was going to name the main character “Matt,” but he didn’t think it would look good in a pitch meeting, so he changed the name to “Bart.”

He was running short on time and so, he drew out all the names from his family and used them for the show. He even used his hometown Springfield as the fictional town in the “The Simpsons.” Even more so, some of the characters are also based on the names of people who bullied Matt in third and fourth grades.

But there are of course some differences in the way people are in real life and the way they are portrayed on screen. Homer Simpson, for instance, is a nuclear power plant worker who loves beer, doughnuts, and bacon. But Matt told The Smithsonian that real-life Homer doesn’t like doughnuts, just ice cream. Besides, Marge wasn’t included in his mother’s name.

According to Toon’s Magazine, Matt spent an idyllic childhood and had a happy family life. He grew up writing short stories and scribbling doodles in his notebooks, many of which were ripped by his class teachers. In college, he started submitting his cartoons to publications and magazines. In the 1980s, he received an offer from Fox’s The Tracy Ullman Show. If he accepted the offer, he’d have to lose the rights to the cartoons in his comic “Life in Hell.” So, while sitting in the waiting room of their office, he quickly made up the Simpsons characters, never knowing that they would go on to create history.

Users on X decided to dig deeper to find more connections between Matt’s real life and The Simpsons. “How did I never know how many characters he named after family members,” said @rupert_suarez2. Others pointed out that the names of other Simpsons characters are based on the names of streets in Portland where Matt grew up.

While his mother rests in peace, Matt has already immortalized her and all of his family members with his quick-witted creativity.